This was our first cruise and I promised that I would write up a review upon returning. Everything that I have read on this website was very helpful, both the negative and positive. I thought I would return the favor.

First the positive... We had a blast. These are only the highlights. First I have to say that Carnival had wonderful staff. Our steward, Dimiter was very polite and helpful. Our waiters, Vern and Carlo were great. They all work so hard! The cabin surprised us. It was plenty big enough for the 3 of us (although I would not like to try to fit 2 kids over age six) and the way they arranged it to make enough storage space for all the things we packed showed great engineering and foresight. I was nervous that we wouldn't have enough to do on the boat. I packed 3 books and only read 1 chapter of the first. (Very unlike me as I read pretty much non-stop at home!) We never got bored. There were activities appropriate for all of us and the shore excursions allowed us 4 very different experiences all in one trip. Camp Carnival was such a hit with our daughter that the first question she had each morning was "When can I go to camp?". Just like the ads on tv, she didn't want to hang out with us. The counselors were wonderful with the kids and very professional. I don't know how they do it and stay sane! Having our daughter in the camp allowed us to have some grown-up time. We met great people and enjoyed the nice formal dinners with our new friends or just the 2 of us. We never made it to the Supper Club because the main dining room food was excellent. Maybe next time...

And the negative...When asked how my cruise was, I think I would honestly say while we had a great time, I don't think cruises are for everyone. Especially Carnival. I don't think Carnival is for the very serious and easily offended group. I also don't think it would be good for children under age 6 as it would be too overwhelming. There were too many crowds at times, which made even our 8 year old a little nervous. It was made worse by the fact that our cruise was full of spring breakers. I heard of at least 3 people who were escorted off the ship in hand-cuffs. 1 for indecent exposure on St. Patty's day at the Main Lido Pool deck. We had to go out of our way to make sure our daughter was not around the drunk and very inappropriate behavior of the young college-aged men who were on our ship showing off exactly how immature and insensitive they were. There was even a group of Marines not demonstrating a very good example of our US armed forces intelligence level and honor. We wrote to Carnival and suggested that they take a stricter approach in order to make the ship more family friendly. Maybe even make one of the pools a kids oriented (no alcohol) area. I think that even in a non-spring break week, Carnival is for the more party oriented crowd. Most of the activities on board involve alcohol and gambling and loud music (or combinations thereof). For the record, I have to admit here that I am not a saint. I do enjoy a nice glass of wine (or two or three or...) and got pretty tipsy myself one night in the disco and regretted it the next day when the ship was rocking back & forth in the gulf stream... So as I was saying - The other negative stuff I was prepared for...The cow herding and long waits at port docking time. No privacy. High cost of shore excursions and alcohol on board (Our incidentals, souvenir purchases, photographs and booze almost doubled the cost of the cruise over the cabin alone). Too much food (wait, is that good or bad?). Read more